Good Luck Charms
 When we think of St. Patricks's Day we think of good luck and fun! St. Patrick’s Day, celebrated on March 17th each year, is a day of honoring the patron saint of Ireland, St. Patrick. It is a day when many dress in green, eat green foods and corned beef and cabbage, drink beer and have a fun, festive celebration. It’s a day that anyone, even those who aren’t of Irish heritage, can join in on the festivities. Let’s face it, it’s a jolly good time!
You may be familiar with the phrase, “Luck o’ the Irish”. The association between luck and the Irish is said to date back to the gold and silver rush but it was actually meant in a derogatory manner at the time. However, over the years we’ve seen a shift in that thought and many associate the Irish with luck and good fortune. We even see the cereal, Lucky Charms portraying a lucky leprechaun and a pot of gold. Many cultures have various good luck charms, rituals, prayers, blessings, etc. in hopes of bringing forth good luck and fortune. Here are a few:
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Acorn - For youth and true love or to ward off lightening
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Arrowhead - Protection from the evil eye
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Badger tooth - For luck in cards
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Coral Beads - To protect children from disease
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Bee jewelry - Energy, success in business
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Four leaf clover - Good luck
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Fish - Wealth
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Gemstones/Crystals - Health and magical properties.
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Hearts - Fidelity and devotion
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Horseshoe - Good fortune, protection
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Key - Opening doors
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Knot - Unity and harmony
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Lyre - Accentuates good qualities
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Penny - “See a penny pick it up and all day long you’ll have good luck Leave it there and you’ll despair.” Some even think that if the penny is face down, you shouldn’t pick it up.
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Rabbit’s Foot - Good luck-though not so lucky for the rabbit
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Religious Medals - Ward off evil or bring fortune
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Ring - Eternity
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Silver Sixpence - Wealth charm for bridal couple
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Wishbone - A symbol of good luck. If two people tug on the wishbone, the person with the bigger piece is believed to have their wish come true.
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ST. PATRICK'S DAY ACTIVITY IDEAS
IT'S YOUR LUCKY DAY! FREE DOWNLOAD
In this free zipped folder, I share some fun activities for St. Patrick's Day. This bundle includes 7 (it's a lucky number!) activities: a word find puzzle, craft, food-prep idea, writing, and various materials for discussion. Download and print!
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St. Patrick's Day
By Christine Jennings
These may or may not be new ideas to you, but since I have some Irish heritage in my family tree I thought I would throw in some ideas just for fun.
Craft – Since most will have a party on this day how about decorating it a little differently this year. As a craft project the week before have residents make “Lucky Sleeves” for your chairs. These are simple chair covers that will add extra charm to your Irish party decor.
Materials:
• Pillowcases (standard) prefer light green, orange or white (you can check out the Goodwill store for used pillowcases to keep the cost down. Just remember to wash them.)
• Felt squares: light green, dark green, orange and white (you can use the kind that has the sticky backs)
• Pencil, scissors, felt glue, ruler, fabric glue
• Puffy paint (white, green, orange, black and gold)
• Sequins and beads (white opal, shiny green and shiny gold/yellow)
• Ribbon – at least two yards per chair (if you are in a large facility then don’t use the ribbon, it will be too costly, however if you want a tie to keep the chair sleeves on you could try white rope or enough ribbon to just tie a knot. Either way the chair covers will look great.) If they are a little long just tuck them under to fit the chair.
Instruction:
• Cut out for each chair two large (about the size of a drink coaster) shamrocks (one dark green and one orange) and two smaller shamrocks (one light green and one white).
• Glue the smaller light green shamrock on the large orange shamrock and decorate with white sequins. Do the same with remaining shamrocks alternating the colors (small white on dark green).
• Cut out a green hat and add black paint to resemble a leprechaun hat. Add either a dot of gold paint for the buckle or a yellow sequin instead. Lay down the pillowcases and arrange the shamrocks and hat so it can be nicely seen on the back of the chair. I suggest the first shamrock be placed three inches on the left top corner, then the hat about five inches down from the first shamrock in the center position and the second shamrock about five to six inches down on the right hand corner. Keep both shamrocks about three to four inches from the side. Think of a large check mark with the decorations being the three points. Once all are in place then glue or peel and stick the decoration on the pillowcase.
• Now randomly glue sequins over the back of the cover or you can use puffy paint instead of the sequins when finishing the decorating. Only do this towards the upper half of the cover, so not to take away from the ribbon or rope if you plan on using them. After the glue and paint are dry then slip the covers over the chair. Finish off with the ribbon in a bow or the rope in a knot.
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SPRING INTO TRAINING
Activity InServices |
 This bundle includes 11 different introductory inservices that are designed for easy, affordable, and quality training for facility staff. ONLY $3.59 PER INSERVICE! Includes:
1)Positive Affirmations and Activities Staff Inservice
2) Meaningful 1 x 1 Quality of Life Activities Inservice
3) Sensory Stimulation: Tips and Techniques Staff Inservice
4) Never Too Old to Learn Staff Inservice
5) Introduction to Leisure Education Inservice
6) Introduction to Religion and Spirituality Inservice
7) Introduction to Humor Therapy Inservice
8) Introduction to Remotivation Inservice
9) Introduction to Reminiscence Inservice
10) Adapting Activities Techniques and Tips Inservice
11) Talking Shop: Activity Ideas for Men Inservice
Each PDF inservice comes with a handout, teacher's
outline, certificate of attendance, inservice sign in sheet, flyer to announce
the inservice, an interactive exercise, and an inservice evaluation form. All
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SPRING ACTIVITY WORKSHEETS/PUZZLES
FREEBIE - IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
 In this free zipped folder, I share some fun activity worksheets for Springtime. This bundle includes 7 activities: crossword puzzle, 2 word finds, 2 word scrambles, song match, and quotes for discussion. Just download and print!
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SPRING CLEANING
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Thank you for taking the time to view this newsletter. Happy St. Patrick's Day! May the luck of the Irish be with you! Many blessings, Kim
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